Heart to Heart
by The Steel Angel
Summary: A late night chat turns into much more


Heart to Heart  
  
By: Wickedclowns101  
  
"Come on Rachel! Move!" Prince Jake yelled.  
  
"Don't push it Jake!" Rachel called back. "Drill's, drill's drill's. All we do is drill! And I for one, am sick of it!"  
  
Prince Jake walked up to her, rather calmly. But then he grabbed her viciously by the throat.  
  
"Don't do this to me, Rachel." He hissed, and then threw her roughly aside. I had never seen Prince Jake act this way before. To tell you the truth, it frightened me.  
  
(That night)  
  
I was restless. It was nearly midnight, and most if not all the humans were asleep in their makeshift homes. Being as restless as I was, I decided to go for a walk. I needed to stretch my muscles. I was rather hungry also.  
  
I set off at top speed, slowing gradually. When I reached the lake, I heard an alarming sound. The sound of human screaming. I raced over to the source of the sound, and found Rachel.  
  
She had been crying. I could tell by the fact that her eyes were swollen and red. She was crouched on a rotted log, clutching a sharp stone in her right hand. She was pressing the stone down onto the middle of her left wrist.  
  
Now, I am not an expert on human physiology, but I was sure, that the resulting laceration would damage the main artery from the arm to the heart. The resulting bleeding would cause her to pass out, and ultimatly, to die.  
  
Suicide! On the homeworld, suicide is seen as an act of cowardice. I do not know how humans saw it, but I was certain that Rachel was no coward.  
  
Rachel! I yelled.  
  
She withdrew the rock. "What do you want Ax?" she said sternly.  
  
I tried to sound like a friend, but my response was strained. Were you planning to end your life?   
  
"What business is it of yours?" she retorted.  
  
I dug my hooves into the ground firmly. It is my business. You are possibly the strongest warrior we have. I am looking to win this war. I sounded harsh.  
  
"You don't need me, all I ever do is cause us to almost be captured. I do more harm than good." She said.  
  
Yes. And it is that recklessness that the Yeerks do not expect. When all hope is lost, a Yeerk will stop resisting. But a human will figh until every one of them are dead. And that Rachel, is why we will win. I meant it. I would never admit to my human friends, that they are relatively smarter than the Yeerks. Smarter than we Andalites.  
  
A mere six decades from their first flying machine, to landing on their moon.  
  
I was confident that if more humans learned the truth, and if the war went on long enough, that humans would defeat the Yeerks without Andalite or Animorph interference.  
  
I needed to contact the homeworld. Surely they have launched a fleet by now.  
  
I coaxed Rachel out of her suicide attempt, and watched her go back to her cabin. I decided that now was the time to test my interstellar transponder. It was small, no bigger than a human ice chest. I carried it out to the fringes of the forest, and as humans say, I flipped the 'on' switch.  
  
The machine hummed as it powered up.  
  
Open two way communication between point of contact and Andalite military headquarters. I instructed.  
  
"Two way communication channel opened. Begin two way transfer." The screen flickered, and an Andalite face appeared.  
  
Hello? Hello? Who is initiating this conference? the Andalite demanded.  
  
I am Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthil. Communicating from Earth. I said.  
  
Brother of Elfangor? he asked.  
  
The same. I answered.  
  
I am Ganorinth-Worshatl-Malatio. Tactical Officer aboard the Domeship, Tribefire. What is the purpose of this contact? Ganorinth said.  
  
I am curious about the Fleet to Earth. What is it's status? I asked.  
  
I am sorry to disappoint you, but the fleet that was sent to Earth has been deverted to Leera. It seems - I cut him off.  
  
There is nothing of concern on Leera! Leera is winning it's war. Earth however is not. We need help. Do you realize, that if the Yeerks take this planet, with its six billion hosts, there is nothing stopping them from moving against the Andalite Homeworld? I said.  
  
What are you trying to say, Aximili? I exploded.  
  
Truly, you have condemned humans to the Yeerks, just as you condemned the Hork-Bajir. I cut the transfer.  
  
"So, earth waits again."  
  
I jumped about ten feet.  
  
I tuned my stalk eyes to see Rachel standing behind me. She was in her morphing suit, so she must have flown.  
  
How did you find me? I asked.  
  
"I heard a humming noise coming from the forest, so I morphed to Great-Horned Owl, and found you." She said.  
  
I have nothing else to say. I said simply, and began to walk away.  
  
"Wait." Rachel said  
  
I turned my left stalk eye back toward her.  
  
Yes? I asked.  
  
"Can you just stay here with me for a while?" she asked.  
  
I do not understand. I said.  
  
Rachel began to laugh lightly. "Please Ax? I just need someone to listen to me." She brushed he hand against my cheek.  
  
Should I tell her that what she was doing to me would be the human equivalent of kissing? I was powerless to resist.  
  
Y...yes of course. I replied. I walked with her back to the log. She sat down, while I remained standing.  
  
"I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm driving everyone I care about away. Tobias won't speak to me. Cassie and Jake are avoiding me. Marco thinks I'm a lunatic. My Mom and sisters are scared to death of me. But. there's one thing I don't understand. I know that we've never really been close friends, but why haven't you formed any resentments toward me?" she asked.  
  
Not a question I wanted to answer.  
  
It is a long story. I said.  
  
"Please tell me." She said.  
  
I took a deep breath and began. When I was very young, my father returned home from the military. He was discharged because of his age, well, that's what my mother told me. My uncles told me the truth. They told me that he was power hungry. That he lusted to the adrenaline rush of a battle. He was discharged from the military on grounds of. insanity. I said.  
  
"Like me," Rachel whispered.  
  
My brother told me not to be angry at my father. Nor to be embarrassed by him. Elfangor taught me to take pity upon the bloodthirsty. I said.  
  
I saw a tear flow down one of her cheeks.  
  
I. I am sorry Rachel. I only spoke the truth. I said.  
  
She turned away from me, and for what seemed like ages, neither of us spoke.  
  
"So, it's true." She said, breaking the silence. "When Marco calls me a lunatic, or calls me insane, he really does mean it." She said.  
  
I could tell that she needed to be comforted. She turned and walked back toward me. She again, brushed my cheek with her delicate human hand, and smiled. I brought my own hand up and covered hers.  
  
.Rachel, I said. Please.   
  
She looked startled. "What?" she said.  
  
When you do that. it is to Andalites what kissing is to humans. I said absentmindedly.  
  
She pulled her hand away. "I'm sorry, Aximili." She covered her mouth in shock at what she had just said.  
  
Di. did you just call me Aximili? I asked.  
  
She smiled and nodded.  
  
It's okay. I actually find it quite. what is the human word? Cute? I smiled. Most species find an Andalite smile to be a bit unnerving. It involves widening our eyes, and tilting our eyelids back. Flaring our pupils and so forth. We andalites have more control or our eyes than humans. I had lived with the humans long enough to recognize their facial expressions. In turn, they have come to learn mine.  
  
Almost without thinking, I began to morph to human. It was clear that Rachel needed to be comforted. Better to do it as a human than an Andalite.  
  
The morph was complete. I looked down at my strong human arms and legs. I looked at Rachel, right into her deep blue eyes. God, she's beautiful, I thought. My human instincts took over. I wrapped my strong arms around her, holding her. She looked at me and smiled.  
  
"Thank you, Aximili." She said.  
  
That was too much. My testosterone clouded human brain took over my desolate andalite mind. I ran one of my hands through her long golden hair, and kissed her. It was the most exhilirating sensation I had ever experienced. Much more than when I had kissed Estrid out of experiment.  
  
Then, it hit me. My Andalite mind was jolted. This feeling was love. I pulled away.  
  
"What's wrong, Aximili?" she asked, worry in her voice.  
  
"I. I think I love you." I managed to say. She giggled. "No, Rachel." I took her by the shoulders and pushed her away. "This isn't right. We're warriors. And we're not even the same species!" I said.  
  
She brushed her hands over mine. "You look human to me, Aximili." She said softly.  
  
I couldn't resist her, or the instinct in my head. I kissed her again, and let my instincts take over.  
  
I was going to suggest that we turn in for the night when-  
  
Oh my god! Tell me I'm not seeing what I'm seeing!   
  
"Oh no! it's Tobias!" I said.  
  
I was morphing back to andalite as quickly as possible. Tobias had landed and begun to morph to human.  
  
Tobias I- he cut me off.  
  
"No, I don't even want to listen to you right now." He said. "Rachel? How could you? Well, it's time for you to make a choice. Me, him."  
  
Rachel opened her mouth to speak.  
  
Nothing better than a cliffhanger, right? Don't worry, The Sequel will be up in a few days, Tuesday at the most. Well, now.  
  
Like it?  
  
Hate it?  
  
Review! Flames are accepted, just try and make them helpful to me, to improve the sequel. Thanks!  
  
WC101  
  
LAYTE! 


End file.
